Maduro’s opponents take to the streets
Weeklong protest across Venezuela not losing steam
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s government fired tear gas and rubber bullets at some of the thousands of opponents of President Nicolas Maduro who poured into the streets of Caracas amid a weeklong protest movement that shows little sign of losing steam.
The demonstrations came a day after Maduro’s government barred top opposition leader Henrique Capriles from running for office for 15 years.
The ban capped a tumultuous 10 day-crackdown that saw pro-government groups rough up several opposition leaders and another seek refuge in a foreign embassy to escape arrest.
The protests were triggered by the Supreme Court’s decision to gut the opposition-controlled legislature of its last vestiges of power, a move that was later reversed amid widespread international condemnation and even dissent within Maduro’s normally disciplined socialist leadership.
“Nobody can disqualify the Venezuelan people,” an emotional Capriles said from a stage Saturday as he called on protesters to march to the Ombudsman’s office downtown.
As the sea of protesters approached the headquarters of state-run PDVSA oil company, they were met by a curtain of eye-scorching tear gas and rubber bullets. Mayhem then ensued, with riot police racing down windy streets, dodging objects thrown from tall apartment buildings as they deployed to squash the unrest.
At least 17 people were treated for injuries, according to Ramon Muchacho, a Caracas-area mayor.
Around most of Caracas, checkpoints were set up to search cars and frisk bus passengers even miles away from the clashes.
As the most dominant figure in the opposition over the past decade, Capriles has been at the forefront of the protests, the most combative since a wave of anti-government unrest in 2014, in which dozens of people were killed, many at the hands of security forces.
While opposition leaders have insisted on peaceful protest, frustration built up over 17 years of polarizing socialist rule in Venezuela is running high on both sides.
Leaders in the ruling socialist party have accused the opposition of trying to provoke a bloodbath and its own coup. Maduro didn’t comment Friday during a state TV appearance about the comptroller general’s order against Capriles. But he but urged his supporters not to be distracted by tough language coming from “Capriloca,” a play on the Spanish word for “crazy.”
The protest movement’s immediate goal apparently is to force Maduro to call elections. Authorities last year cancelled an opposition campaign to hold a recall referendum on Maduro, and no date has yet been set for gubernatorial elections that were supposed to take place last year.
The government earlier jailed another major opposition figure, hardliner Leopoldo Lopez. With both seemingly out of the running, the government may be trying to manipulate the electoral playing field to leave the opposition with less viable options should the government bow to pressure and call elections, analysts said.
“However, it is a risky strategy that will probably backfire,” Eurasia Group said in a report Friday. “The opposition is clearly fired up and this will further their cause.”